San Fernando Valley Shows Big Support for Rail & Measure R2

posted by gloria ohland | 494mp
March 01, 2015

Two major take-aways from the crowded San Fernando Valley Town Hall meeting that Move LA co-hosted with the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments last week: There is a very high level of interest in and support for Measure R2 and for rail projects, and a very high level of support for bike and pedestrian projects as well.

Attendees "voted" using green stickers to indicate the projects they most wanted to see funded, and using red stickers for those projects they thought should not get built. The projects under consideration?

The East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, which runs 9.2 miles predominantly down Van Nuys Boulevard from the Orange Line north to the Sylmar Metrolink Station — project could be BRT ($450 M) or light rail ($2 B)

Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor, approximately 9 miles from the Orange Line south to Westwood — project could be BRT on the 405 ($1 B) or a tunnel through the pass ($6 B) that could accommodate light or heavy rail

San Fernando Valley to San Gabriel Valley BRT, a project championed by the San Fernando Valley Council of Governments and would run approximately 14 miles from the Burbank Airport to the Metro Gold Line in Pasadena ($900 M for BRT)

"ECO" Corridor from Glendale/Burbank into downtown LA, another project championed by the San Fernando Valley COG and the Gateway Cities COG as the corridor route is from Burbank to Cerritos; the alignment in the San Fernando Valley is approximately 10 miles in length from Union Station to Glendale and then to Burbank ($2 B for light rail)

Extension of the Red Line to Burbank Airport, also recommended by the COG, would travel approximately 2.5 miles from North Hollywood to Burbank Airport ($1.5 B)

Converting the Orange Live into LRT, another project championed by the COG and Valley leaders, would increase capacity on what is considered an important alternative to the 101 freeway; the Orange Line has exceeded ridership projections since it opened

5% of Measure R2 funding for upgrades to Metrolink including grade separations and double tracking to disentangle passenger and freight traffic and to facilitate zero/near zero emission technologies

5% of Measure R2 for Grand Boulevards — which could fund transportation improvements including enhanced bus service and better, safer bus stops with real-time transit info, complete streets, bike and pedestrian projects and other enhancements that would encourage mixed-use mixed-income development that could help promote strong ridership

Bike and pedestrian projects could be an eligible expense in the Grand Boulevards program, rail transit program, local return to cities, and possibly as a matching fund for the Safe Routes to School program.

For a running commentary on the 3-hour program read this blog post by Zachary on the CicLAValley blog, though I don't agree with everything that he wrote, and he left the meeting before there was a big outpouring of support for bike and pedestrian projects.

I'll post the PPT that Denny Zane created for the Town Hall meeting ASAP.